To think my memory is very bad

[thegirlinthebed]

A friend of mine was talking about a school trip we went on to Italy in 1994 - and saying what fun we had. I remember basically nothing of this trip except one brief memory of being in a hotel room - and one memory is seeing a police car parked near the hotel.

I'm 35 now. Is it normal to remember so little?

I read books but a few months later I'd barely recall what was in them - or sometimes I'd forget I read them at all.

Even memories of the last few years can be quite hazy.

I get this too OP. DH will ask if I remember things from holidays as little as five years ago - and there's nothing there. Not a flicker! But I can remember every single phone number I've ever had from the house phone at age 5 onwards. Now THAT ain't normal is it!

I fried my memory through heavy drinking for over a decade after my father died suddenly when I was 19. As such, at 31 my memory is so bad (I remember very little of anything) I have to take photos and videos of my kids etc, because I can no longer seem to store away these things in my head :/ It's really scary because my friends and family remember so clearly everything, they're like "do you remember when" and I have to say, nope...

I'd be similar to you. Can't recall a lot from my secondary school days or time at university.

DH was talking to someone about the time I found a large amount of cash in a carrier bag, and how I returned it. It was only then I could recall it, and even then only a brief snippet.

I would have trouble remembering details of a holiday 20 years ago. I think it's because my life these days is extremely busy so I don't spend much time thinking about the events of the distant past and therefore I'm not reinforcing those memories. On the other hand, I still remember very clearly what I learned at university 25 years ago because I use the material in my job, so it's regularly reinforced. That's my theory anyway!

my historic memory is fantastic - creepily so.
my everyday memory is so poor ,i have to have tests next appointment.

Also my memory of my own children when they were babies is a bit of a blur. I remember bits and pieces. I've started writing a little diary of their lives for them (and me) - and it seems such a shame to forget the funny things they've done. I type up a few quick things every week at lunch in work.

My DS told me something that really made me think. "When you remember something, you are only recalling the latest time you thought about it"

That is why our memory of experiences seems to change and morph over time. Perhaps you haven't spent as much time thinking about the trip as your friend has, and maybe her recall of it is not entirely accurate.

As an aside... it is better that you saw the police car than took a ride in it

I have a friend like this. She remembers every party we went to in our twenties, who was there, what we drank and what happened. I have no recollection of such parties. Similarly my mum will remember who I played with at primary school, I don't.

Dunno. I think a lot of it is about what is important to you. I'm very much of the opinion that the past needs to be left there and it's the hear and now that's important. For example my mum will remember past injuries from people and will bear a grudge. I never remember things and so move on much quicker. A good memory only serves you well if you use it positively.

or it could just be that I smoked too much weed in my twenties and have fried my memory.....

My memory is atrocious. Yesterday I couldn't remember how old I am. I can't remember my secondary school teachers names or the trips we went on, at all.

Its become a bit of a family joke, I know my mum is quite worried though.

I have an appalling memory, OP. I once joked with a friend that we had such bad memories that we only needed one book and one dvd to keep ourselves eternally entertained.